Ex-partner of Tyrell Cobb’s mother, Matthew Scown, has walked free from prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter. He was given a suspended 4-year sentence.
Brisbane Supreme Court heard he did not cause the abdominal injuries that led to 4-year-old Tyrell’s death but had failed in his duty of care by not seeking medical treatment immediately.
The court also heard Scown offered “considerable co-operation”, and had already spent 987 days in prison.
When handing Scown his sentence, Justice Martin Burns said Tyrell would have been “in extreme pain” and “very, very ill” when he died.
“Every movement would have caused extreme pain,” he said.
The little boy had total of 53 bruises and 17 abrasions on his body at time of death.
Scown, 34, appeared to be laughing and smiling as he left the Supreme Court.
Last November, Tyrell’s uncle claimed Tyrell had been punched in the stomach before he vomited “green slime”.
The little boy from the Gold Coast was found unconscious at his Biggera Waters home in May 2009 before he died shortly after in hospital.
Prosecutor Phil McCarthy told the court that Scown called emergency services when Tyrell began vomiting after he was put to sleep by his mother and told the operator “it looks like he’s going to die”.
Tyrell’s mother, Heidi Strbak, is also charged with manslaughter.
More as we get it.
